


Dead or Alive

by therealalex12



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-25 00:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10752915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therealalex12/pseuds/therealalex12
Summary: When Alfred and Matthew loose their fathers and find themselves stuck in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, what will happen?  Will they find themselves dead or alive?





	1. Chapter 1

It started 5 years ago, when Matthew and Alfred were only 14 years old.  There was a zombie breakout all over the world.  All major cities were taken over and in shambles.  Everyone who wasn’t undead was fleeing for their lives, or taking them from not being able to handle the insanity.  Most smaller cities were taken over, but a few places were able to survive.  At the time, they lived in a small country town with about 20 people that was far from the rest of society.  They lived happy lives with their two fathers, thinking they were safe from the invasion, that they were too far away to be reached, and that their lives would be completely normal.  One night, that all changed.  That day was completely normal, helping around the house and doing their chores.

Once the night came, that’s when things went wrong.  Alfred was wearing his pajamas, a blue t-shirt with the Captain America shield on it and blue checkered flannel pants.  Matthew was wearing his pajamas too, a white t-shirt with a red maple leaf with red checkered flannel pants.  Once the brothers were in their pajamas, they went to sleep.

The brothers were sleeping soundly until they heard a ear-piercing scream from downstairs.  The two brothers ran down the stairs to see what was the matter.  They saw their fathers, Arthur and Francis,  taking furniture from around the house to barricade the door.

They saw the boys and beckoned them near them, mouthing  _ Get over here _ .  Alfred and Matthew ran towards the barricaded door, Arthur and Francis grabbing them into a hug.  “You need to help us,” Arthur said.

“What is it?”  Alfred asked.

“Alfred, look out the window,” Francis replied.

Alfred, with Matthew walking behind him, walked over to the window next to the door and looked.  There was chaos outside.  Zombies were roaming the streets, with people screaming for their lives.

One of their neighbors, a young man named Vash Zwingli was shooting the zombies with a pistol, trying to protect his sister Lilli.  He was trying to fight one off, but he got bitten and it was too late.  He was becoming a zombie already and was coming for her, and in a rushed panic to save herself, she picked the pistol off the ground, closed her eyes, and aimed it at Vash.  Alfred dashed away from the window as a loud gunshot was heard.  He ran towards his fathers, crying into their arms and hugging them.

“Will we be ok?” Matthew quietly asked.  He joined Alfred, Arthur, and Francis in the hug, hoping it was all a dream.

“I don’t know, ma chére.  I don’t know,” Francis replied.  “We may get out alive, or we may not.  We will know when the time comes.”

Arthur stood up.  “I get if you want to enjoy the moment, but we have zombies at our door, and we need to protect ourselves.”  He got out of the hug and started barricading furniture again.  “Alfred, Matthew, can you get some things that can be used as weapons?  Anything will do.”

Alfred and Matthew ran upstairs to their room.  They looked all around their room for things they could use.  Alfred found a baseball bat, and Matthew found a hockey stick. 

The two ran downstairs finding Arthur holding the furniture against the door, and Francis looking around for more weapons.  

Francis went to the closet and took out a long, thin sword inside of a sheath.  He carefully slid the sword out, revealing it.  The blade shined like silver, and the grip was golden and was covered in jewels.  “I can’t believe it’s still in perfect condition after all these centuries.”  He slipped the sword back in its sheath and held it by his side.

He also took out a wooden pistol with metal around the barrel and down the grip.  Both the wood and the metal had intricate carvings in it that only a master at the craft could make.  Francis tossed the gun to Arthur, and he caught it with one hand.  “Yes, I haven’t used this since my pirate years.”  Francis and Arthur switched places.  Taking a break from blocking the door.

He walked over to Alfred and Matthew to see what they could find.  “This is great.  Hold onto them in case you need to protect yourself.”  There was a thumping on the windows, zombies trying to get in.  One of the zombies manages to break it open, and Arthur quickly turned around and shot it, right in the middle of it’s forehead.  He then took a small table from the barricade and blocked the window up.

Arthur spun around to face Alfred and Matthew “It’s getting to dangerous.  You boys need to go upstairs and get what you need.  Get some bags too and bring them down so we can fill them with food, clothes, and other supplies.  Anything you would need for camping, you need to get.  We need to get away from this madness.”

Alfred and Matthew ran up the stairs to get what they needed.  They brought a bag of clothes, a couple flashlights, several packs of batteries, a first aid kit, other wilderness survival items, and they still had two extra bags for anything else.  They then came downstairs to fill up the last bag with canned and dried food, basic cooking supplies, and the weapons.

By the time everything was packed, even more zombies had came.  They were banging on the windows and doors, shaking the barricade down.  The barricade eventually collapsed, and insanity ensued.  Zombies charged into the house, coming towards the whole family as they rushed to grab their weapons.

Alfred and Matthew were whacking the zombies away with their baseball bat and hockey stick, and Francis and Arthur were directly killing them.  As Arthur was aiming his gun at a zombie, another one came up and bit him on the shoulder.

The gun dropped to the ground, and Francis rushed over to help him.  “No! Papa! Don’t go near-” Matthew shouted, but it was too late.  Arthur’s eyes were already white as snow and his skin was starting to degrade.  Francis’ hand was on his shoulder, and he grabbed it and bit it.  Francis screamed in pain, blood slowly trickling down onto the floor.

Alfred and Matthew panicked, unsure of what to do to save themselves and their fathers.  Alfred looked at the gun on the floor, and then at Matthew with a stern face.  “N-No, you don’t mean-” Matthew stopped himself before he could say anything else.

“I do mean it.  It’s for the  best for all of us.”  Alfred ran towards the dropped gun on the floor and back to Matthew before either of their zombified fathers could get to him.

Matthew leaned towards Alfred.  “You don’t even know how to use it?  What if something happens?  Is this really the best option?”

Alfred aimed the pistol at his fathers.  “Don’t worry, I have this under control,”  Alfred said, tears coming out of the corners of his eyes.  “It’ll all be ok,” he whispered.  “It’ll all be ok.”  He fired the gun twice, a bullet for Arthur, and a bullet for Francis.  The gunshots boomed in his ears like thunder, and when the bullets shot out, there was a flash like lightning.  Matthew grabbed the sword from Francis’ limp hand, and finished off the rest of the zombies.

They quickly barricaded the door up again, but this time so it wouldn’t collapse.  After it was stacked up again, Alfred and Matthew leaned up against it, sighing with relief.  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Matthew said.  “Our lives will never be the same.  Our fathers are gone, and now zombies are invading the town.  What are we going to do?”  he asked.

Alfred stood up and looked down at Matthew.  “What else?  We’ll make it through this mess and live another day.”  He crouched down to Matthew and held his hand out.  “You in?”  he asked with a dorky smile on his face.

Matthew firmly grabbed his brother’s hand and shook it.  “I’m in.”


	2. Chapter 2

It’s been 5 years since the incident.  Alfred and Matthew have gotten used to surviving in the woods and fighting off zombies.  At first, it was hard for them to not eat all their rations at once, try to guard the camp and not fall asleep, or run off and look around instead of focusing on getting to their new life, free from zombies.

They had to look for supplies and food by themselves, and know what was good to eat and what was bad.  It took a long time, but then they got the hang of it.  Their days weren’t too exciting, wake up, take down the camp, walk some more and find supplies, set up camp, eat if needed, and rest or guard.

Since they grew, they had new clothes to wear.  Alfred wore a pair of ripped jeans, a white t-shirt that was splattered with blood, some black hiking boots and an old, worn out, brown leather jacket.  He kept Arthur’s gun in a pocket inside of the jacket.  Matthew wore the same outfit, except he wore a red hoodie instead of the leather jacket.  He kept Francis’ sword tied to his side with a rope they found.  

It was the end of a day for them, and they had to make a camp for the night.  Alfred offered to guard the camp that night, since Matthew did a lot of hard work that day looking for food, and he needed a rest.

Alfred wished him goodnight before he went to sleep, and stood outside the tent to look for zombies.  He was roaming the perimeter when he saw a pillar of smoke in the distance.  He walked a few yards closer to see what it was, and he also saw some light.  “Is that . . . a village?” he thought to himself.  He squinted his eyes so he could look closer, and he saw that the light and smoke was coming from a bonfire.  “Oh my God, it is!” he yelled out.

Matthew came out from the tent, moaning.  “What is it, Al?  I’m trying to sleep.”  Alfred beckoned him over and pointed to the bonfire in the distance.

“There’s a village over there!  If it’s not taken over by zombies yet, we can stay there and hopefully be there for the rest of our lives!”  Alfred was jumping around with excitement.  “Pack up the camp, let’s get going!”  He and Matthew packed everything up and marched towards the bonfire.

By the time they made it, the sun was rising, and they could see what the village looked like.  The houses were small wooden shacks, and there was an outhouse, a stone oven and a pile of firewood next to each of them.  There were about 4 of them in the shape of a square, and the bonfire from earlier was in the middle.

A young man came out of one of the houses to put out the bonfire, which still had a shrivel of a flame left in it, and Alfred running over to talk to them.  “Don’t run!  You’ll scare him!”  Matthew whispered.

Alfred didn't listen and ran up to him.  “HEY!  WHAT IS THIS PLACE?  IS IT A VILLAGE?”  he yelled as he ran.  The young man looked at him, startled and ran back into his house.

Matthew covered his face with his hand.  “You should have listened to me,” he mumbles to himself.  He looked at Alfred.  “Just let me do it.”  Matthew walked up to the house where the man ran into while Alfred sat on the ground by the bonfire.  He carefully knocked on the door.  “Hello?  I’m sorry my brother startled you.  We just need to ask a few questions.”

The young man from before peeked his head out the door.  He had shoulder-length brown hair and green eyes, and wore a beige knitted vest over a white shirt and some grey pants.  “Y-yes?  What may I help you with?” he asked.

Alfred look up at the man and a gigantic smile broke out on his face.  “Toris!”  he called out, and ran up to the young man.  “How are you doing, and how did you get here?  Is there anyone else?” he asked.

“Ah, Alfred!  It’s nice to see you.  I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier.”  Toris walked out the door and closed it behind him.  “I’ve been doing well, even with all of the chaos going on.”  Alfred smiled as he continued.  “About who’s here,” Toris jerked his thumb towards the house behind him.  “Eduard, Ravis, and I all live in this house.”  He pointed towards the house across it.  “Ivan, Natalia, and Yekaterina live over there.”  Toris pointed to the house on the left “Feliks lives in that house”  He then pointed to the house next to his.  “No one lives there, and we mostly use it as a guest house if anyone comes by.  You can stay in it if you want.”

Matthew’s face lit up.  “Really? You let us do that?”

“For as long as you want,” Toris replied, smiling.

Another huge smile broke across Alfred’s face as he hugged Toris.  “Thanks Toris, you’re the best!”

Toris was startled and squirmed out of the hug.  “Y-You’re welcome,” he replied.  “You can bring all of your things over to the house and get set up.  There’s already two beds and a closet in there, and the rest is up to you.  Here’s the key.”  He passed an old, rusty key towards Matthew.

“Ok, we’ll get ready!” Alfred called out as he and Matthew walked towards the house.  They unlocked the door, which was surprisingly easy for such an old house.  The house wasn’t too big, and it was just small enough for the both of them.  The beds were simple cots with white sheets and were in the back of the house, and the closet was in between the two beds.  A door was to the right which led to the stone oven and outhouse.  The brothers walked to the beds and placed their bags and supplies on them.

Alfred had the one on the left, while Matthew had the one on the right.  Alfred sat down on the bed and laid down to look up at the ceiling.  “It sure feels nice to lay on a mattress again.”

Matthew sat down next to him.  “It sure does, even if they’re on rickety cots and sort of lumpy.”  He took a sigh of relief and stood up again.  “Do you want to see how the others are doing?”

Alfred sat up again.  “Sure!  I’d like to see how they’re doing.”

The two walked over to Ivan’s house and they knocked on the door.  A tall man with  with beige hair and violet eyes wearing a black jacket, boots, jeans, a red shirt, and a white scarf opened the door.  “Hello? How may I help you?” he asked.  He looked down at the two brothers and smiled when he saw Alfred.  “Oh, Alfred!  It’s been a long time since I last saw you!”

Alfred smiled back at him “Same for me!  How’ve you been doing?” he asked.

Ivan tapped his chin. "Well, Natalia, Yekaterina, and I came here a few years ago, and we've been living here ever since.  It's like heaven, with nothing to bother us."  He smiled.  "When we arrived, Toris, Ravis, Eduard and Feliks were already living here for a while, and they said we could stay here too.  We've had a few visitors over the years, but no one else has stayed here permanently."

Alfred spoke up.  "That's cool.  Toris said we could stay here as long as we like.  Is that ok with you?"

Ivan smiled "It's fine!  It's always nice to have new company around here."

Matthew spoke again "That's great!  We're going to go back to our house and get unpacked, so we'll see you later."

"You too!  By the way, the bonfire starts at sunset," Ivan said.

The brothers smiled and waved at Ivan as they walked towards their house.  They got in and started unpacking and sorting their things, which took a few hours.  After they finished, they laid down on their beds and took a nap.

The brothers woke up as the sun was setting.  "We need to get to the bonfire!" Alfred exclaimed.  He took Matthew's hand and they went out the door to the bonfire.

They found everyone sitting around the bonfire talking to each other.  Alfred and Matthew took a seat next to Toris.  "It's nice to see that you came," Toris said.  "We just started, so you didn't miss anything."

Matthew smiled "Thank you so much!  We talked to Ivan earlier and he said you, Ravis, Eduard and Feliks were the first ones here.  Do you know what this place was before you came?"

"Well, we think it was a village in the past, but it's been too long to tell." Toris replied.  "It gives us somewhere to live, and that's all that matters.  The only zombies we've seen were since we got here, so there's no need to worry."  Toris stood up and cleared his throat, causing everyone to look at him.  "To really start the bonfire, I'll go get some fresh wood from the forest, and I'll be right back."  He walked towards a forest in back of the houses to get some wood as the others continued talking.

Matthew turned to Alfred to talk to him.  "I really think this might be our new home," he said.  "Everything's perfect here, and we can live in peace.  Toris was so nice to let us stay here."

Toris came running back, his hands waving in the air.  "Speak of the devil," Alfred said.

Toris was shouting to the others as he was running, looking behind himself every so often.  "They're here! There's zombies out there!  Get inside!"

Alfred and Matthew looked at each other, and they ran into their house, quickly coming out with the gun and the sword and a smirk on their faces.  “Who’s ready to kick some undead ass?”


	3. Chapter 3

“We’ve got this,” Alfred said, twirling his gun in his hands.  “There’s no need to worry.”  Alfred looked at Matthew next to him.  “Ready?” he asked.

“Ready,” Matthew replied.  The brothers charged at the horde of zombies in front of them.  There were only a dozen at the time, so it wasn’t too hard.  There was blood and gore flying everywhere, but it didn’t stop the two.  Once they were gone, Matthew looked up into the distance.  “There’s more of them!” he shouted out.  At once, Ivan and Natalia stood beside them.

“We’ll help too,” Ivan said.  He took out a long, metal pipe, and Natalia took out a knife.

“I’ll do it because big brother is too,” Natalia muttered.  More zombies started getting closer, and the four of them charged at the horde.  There were more zombies this time, at least several dozen of them.  They kept on fighting for what seemed like forever.  The moans of the zombies were embedded into their brains, ringing through their heads.  One after another, zombies fell to the ground,  blood soaking their clothes.

About 5 hours in, there seemed to be a break in the hordes.  “Maybe we should go to our house and get cleaned up,” Ivan spoke up.  “I think we need the rest too.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Alfred replied.  I’m exhausted.”  The group walked up to Ivan and Natalia’s house.  Ivan took his key out of his pocket, though his was a lot less rusty.

“Come on in,” Ivan said as he opened the door.  The group walked in, and were welcomed with a softly lit room that smelled of pine wood.  There were several different tapestries decorating the walls, and most of the furniture was wooden.  The light was coming from a fireplace in the back, and there was a door to the right, but they didn’t open it.  Once they were all in the house Ivan spoke again.

“Welcome to our ho-”  Ivan was quickly interrupted, and someone burst out of the door to the right.  It was a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a white shirt, blue overalls, black work boots, and a blue headband in her hair.

“Ivan!  Natalia!  I was so worried about you two!  Are you ok?”  The woman ran up to Ivan and Natalia and pulled him into a hug.

Ivan squirmed a bit in her hug.  “Big sister, we’re fine!  You can let go of us!”

She backed away to look at the Alfred and Matthew.  “Oh, you two must be Alfred and Matthew!  Ivan told be about you, and it’s nice to finally talk to you.  I‘m Yekaterina,” she said.

“Nice to meet you,” the brothers replied happily.

“If I can return to what I was saying earlier,” Ivan said, “Welcome to our home!  You can rest your feet, and we can make some shchi for you.”

“Thank sounds wonderful,” Matthew said.  “It’s been awhile since we ate something that wasn’t canned or dried.”

Yekaterina prepared the hearty soup over the fireplace while the 4 others talked at the table.  “So what are our plans for after this?” Ivan asked.  “It takes big sister about and hour and a half to make that much shchi, so if we need to get anything, now’s the time.”

“I need to get some more bullets, Matt probably needs to sharpen his sword which we have some rocks for, and maybe I can grab some leftover rations we have just in case.” Alfred replied.  “It’s all at our house, so I can dash over and get it later.”

“By the way,” Matthew commented.  “Where are the others, and how are they doing?  I’m really worried for them.”

Yekaterina turned her head away from the fire to reply to Matthew.  “They all went to  Feliks’ house to call for help, since he’s the only one that has a phone.  They come over every so often to check in on us, and we check in on them.”  Yekaterina sighed.  “So far there’s been no response to our calls, so we’ve started to give up hope.”

“But that doesn’t mean a miracle can happen later on,” Matthew replied with a small smile on his face.

“Yeah, right,” Alfred said.  There was a short moment of silence “Well anyways, I’m going to grab some more supplies while you guys wait here.”  Alfred took out his gun and walked out the door.  He dashed across the open area from Ivan and his sisters’ house to his and Matthew’s, having to shoot a few zombies along the way.  He grabbed all of the supplies he needed and rushed back, slamming the door behind him.  He dropped everything on the table and sat down on the chair with a thump.  “Okay, I got 5 cans of rations, 50 bullets, and a few rocks for Matt to use.

“Thanks,”  Matthew replied, and then he turned around to look at Yekaterina.  “How much longer will it take for it to finish cooking?”

“I’m almost done!” She replied back.  “I just need to put the mushrooms in and . . . done!”  Yekaterina carried the large pot to the table, struggling to balance and not drop it.  Once she made it over and placed it on the table, she went around the corner and came back with several wooden bowls and spoons.  “Enjoy, everyone!  I was in a rush, so I’m sorry if it’s not as good as you thought it would be.”

Everyone began eating the soup, but Alfred in particular was scarfing it down faster than the others.  Once he finished, he leaned back and tilted his chair and let out a big sigh.  “Ah, I haven’t eaten anything that good since we left home!  Can I have some more?”

Matthew leaned over and whispered in Alfred’s ear.  “Al, could you please have some manners?  This isn’t our house. and you can’t ask for seconds when none of us have barely finished out firsts!”

“Aw, come on Mattie!  Why’re you so uptight?  Just sit back and relax while we can!”  Alfred gave Matthew a playful shove, but the force was too much for his chair, and he went tumbling back onto the floor. “Ow!” he called out as everyone was trying to stifle their laughter.  “Can someone help me up here?”

Yekaterina stood up from her chair and helped Alfred up.  “There you go, and having seconds is fine with me,” she smiled.

Alfred shot a prideful smirk at Matthew.  “See? It’s her house and she says it’s fine.”

“Ugh, whatever,” Matthew said, rolling his eyes.  He then looked at Ivan and he pointed to the door to the right.  “Hey, is it ok if I go in there to sharpen my sword?  I don’t want to make too much of a racket out here, and it’s too dangerous outside.”

Ivan nodded.  “Yes it’s fine.  It’s only our bedroom, you can go on in.”

Natalia shot a death glare at Matthew.  “If you touch any of big brother of my things, I’ll kill you.”

Matthew shuddered and looked away from Natalia “Uh yeah, o-of course I won’t,”  Matthew backed away and walked into the other room.  The room was like the main room he was just in, with the furniture being made of wood and tapestries all around.  There was a large dresser with a set of matryoshka dolls on top of it to the right, and against the wall on the left were 3 wooden beds, covered in colorful quilts to brighten up the room.

He sat down on one of the beds with his sword and a rock in hand.  Once he started to sharpen, the loud scraping noise echoed around the room and stopped after a few minutes.  When it stopped and the room was dead quiet, it gave Matthew a feeling of emptiness, like he was the only person left in the world.  “I wish everything could be this quiet,” Matthew muttered to himself.  “No fighting, no death, no zombies, no escaping.  Just some peace and quiet.”

Right after Matthew finished talking to himself, a loud, banging knock came from the door.  “Hey Matt!” Alfred called.  “We’re ready to go back out, so come as soon as you can!”

Matthew sighed, dropping his stone on the bed and slipping his sword in its sheath.  “Alright, I’m coming,” he replied, opening the door.

The others were getting their weapons and other items together, and Yekaterina was gripping Ivan and Natalia in a tight hug.  “Don’t get hurt out there, ok?  You know how much I worry about you!”

Ivan was trying to get out of the hug and gather his supplies.  “Yes big sister, we know.  We have to go now, and we’ll come back as soon as possible.” 

Yekaterina let go of the two and wiped a tear away from her eye.  “Ok, good luck,” she replied.

Alfred stood at the door, tapping his foot on the ground.  “Are we ready?” he asked, and the rest of the group nodded.  “THEN LET’S DO THIS!” The group ran out the door, ready to finish it once and for all.


	4. Chapter 4

The group ran out the door of the house, and it took only a few feet to encounter the first group of zombies.  Their weapons were already brandished, and they began to hack and slash their way through the horde.  Each horde quickly followed the one before it, barely giving the group a break.  The group was fighting harder than before, encouraged by Alfred’s words of encouragement from earlier on.  They started to feel more confident, that they could make it out alive and it could be over.

When a small break in the hordes came, Matthew looked ahead at the upcoming zombies and spoke to the others.  “I’ll go on ahead and take care of the next hordes over there so it won’t be as hard!”

Alfred chased after Matthew, calling for him.  “No! It’s too dangerous! You’ll get-”  As Matthew turned around to see Alfred, a zombie came from behind him and bit him on his forearm.  He screamed in agony, dropping to his knees on the grass.  Alfred ran to his side, shooting away as many zombies as possible, and called the others over.  “Ivan, quickly carry Matt back to the house and get Yekaterina to try to treat him.  It bit his forearm, so it won’t reach his brain as fast and he has a better chance of living.  Natalia, guard Ivan from zombies as he carries Matt.  I’ll take care of the rest.”

The two nodded in agreement, and Ivan lifted Matthew and carried him in his arms.  Natalia circled around Ivan watching for zombies.  Once the two were out of sight, Alfred took a  dirdy grenade out of his pocket and pulled the ring out with his teeth, hurling it towards the forest where the zombies were coming from.  He ran back to the house where the others were, and the door to the bedroom was open, so he walked in, finding everyone crowded around one of the beds.  Alfred barged through them o he could see the bed.  Matthew was laying on the bed, beads of sweat dripping down his face and rolling around.

“I-is he . . . ?” Alfred asked, holding Matthew’s shaking hand.

“I don’t think so,” Yekaterina answered.  “I did all I could, nothing was working.”  She looked at Alfred.  “I think it’s for the best, if you know what I mean,” she said.

Alfred looked back at her.  “Yes, I-I think so too,” he said, tears dripping down from his eyes onto the sheets of the bed.  He squeezed Matthew’s hand harder and wiped the sweat of his head.  “Hey, Matt?” he asked, only getting a pained moan in response.  “I think it’s time to go outside and take a nice, long, break.”  Matthew responded with a quiet “mhm” and turned towards Alfred.  Alfred took a deep sigh and looked towards the others who were looking at either him or the floor, not saying a word.

Alfred picked Matthew up and carried him out the door to behind the house and sat him against the exterior, the orange sunset shining across the sky.  “Well, Matt, I guess I should tell you the truth.  I took you out here not for a temporary break, but a permanent one.  I can’t take seeing you in so much pain any longer, and it won’t be too much longer until you become one of them anyways.  I should’ve done a better job protecting you, and I feel horrible for what I’m about to do, and I hope you can forgive me wherever you’re going after this.”  Alfred broke down and was crying, his tears falling onto the ground.  “D-do you have anything to say b-before I get it over with?” Alfred asked.

Matthew straightened up against the wall a little, and took a deep breath.  “Finally, some peace and quiet.”

After Matthew said quiet, Alfred aimed his gun, closed his eyes, and shot the bullet.  It pierced through the air like a hawk, and the sound of it boomed in Alfred’s ears so loud he thought he’d go deaf.  He opened his eyes to find Matthew’s limp body, his arm slowly sliding onto the ground.  He ran over, crying uncontrollably and hugged Matthew’s corpse, whispering into his ear.  “I-I’m so sorry,” he said.  “I’m so, so sorry.”

The next day was Matthew’s burial.  Everyone including Toris, Ravis, Eduard, and Feliks came.  Because of the lack of proper supplies, all they did was bury him without a coffin and they planted a maple tree seed on top in memory of him.  The rest of the day was extremely silent, and everyone stayed in their homes.

Alfred took out all of Matthew’s belongings to go through them.  Once he found his sword, he went outside and placed it under where the maple tree was planted with a note.  It read ‘In memory of a true hero, one who risked themselves for the ones they loved’.


End file.
